Russia files complaint with Germany over Nord Stream pipeline damage investigation

Russia has formally lodged a complaint with Germany over its investigation into the damage to the Nord Stream pipelines. Moscow is concerned that Berlin will close the investigation without identifying those who commissioned the 2022 attack on the undersea pipelines, according to a statement by a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry. This was reported today by RBK; German officials have not yet responded to the Russian complaint.

Oleg Tyapkin of the Russian Foreign Ministry said, according to the RIA Novosti news agency, that Russia was seeking talks with Germany on the matter. He said there was a possibility that Berlin would close its investigation, as Denmark and Sweden had done earlier.

„We have raised the question of whether Germany and the other affected countries are fulfilling their obligations under the UN counterterrorism conventions,“ Tyapkin said, according to Reuters.

„We have officially submitted the relevant complaints at the bilateral level, including to Berlin,“ the Russian diplomat added.

The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines were damaged in a series of explosions in September 2022, seven months after Russia launched its military invasion of neighbouring Ukraine. The blasts destroyed three of the pipelines’ four strings, which had become a symbol of Germany’s dependence on Russian gas. Russia and the West have traded accusations of sabotage. All parties deny involvement, and no one has claimed responsibility.

An investigation by Swedish authorities found traces of explosives on several objects recovered from the blast site, confirming that the explosions were deliberate. Denmark and Sweden closed their investigations in February this year without identifying any suspects.

Germany recently issued a European arrest warrant for a Ukrainian diving instructor, believed to have been a member of the team that damaged the pipelines, as part of its investigation, according to anonymous sources cited by several German media outlets.

German investigators believe the man, who was last known to have lived in Poland, was one of the divers who planted explosive devices on the gas pipelines running from Russia to Germany along the seabed of the Baltic Sea. Berlin reportedly asked Polish authorities in June to detain the suspect. Poland’s prosecutor’s office later said it had received such a warrant, but that the Ukrainian had already returned to his home country.